Page 3 of Cupid
As I leaned back in my chair, thinking about potential vacation options, Misty Rayne poked her head through the door. “Arrow, you got a second?”
“Sure thing, Misty. Is everything okay?” I sat up and moved my feet back to the floor. They weren’t actually supposed to be up on the workbench anyway.
She stepped into the doorway with a plate of rice crispy treats in her hand. “Everything is amazing. Thanks to you.” She held the plate in front of her as she walked toward me. “I made these for you as a thank-you again for introducing me to Cairo. He’s wonderful and sweet and so handsome…” A blush rose up her cheeks as she described her new beau. “I just can’t believe we never connected before. After all these years of working in the same building, and it took you to make an introduction. What are the odds?”
I just grinned and gave a brief nod. “It was my pleasure, Misty. I’m really glad things are working out for you two. If there’s anything else you need, you just let me know.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a quick hug before backing away. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re the best, Arrow.”
“Anytime.”And don’t tell your friends.
I didn’t say that, but I thought it. But it didn’t matter what I thought. Misty would definitely tell her friends, and I would definitely have more of them popping up with desserts to ask me to help them find love.
It was kind of my thing.
As the only alpha of the Cupid family young enough to be working, it fell upon me to be the matchmaker of Santa’s Village. It wasn’t something I had to work at or think much about. It was just in my blood. A certain kind of magic that allowed me to see a connection between two people that no one else could see. It was a funny thing that I didn’t have much control over, but once that connection appeared, it didn’t go away until I pushed them together, so to speak.
For generations, my family had been considered love makers, but most of us didn’t have such great luck of our own. My parents divorced when I was young, though they continued to live together as roommates, better friends than lovers.
And I’d never had much success when it came to dating.
As I thought about it, a vacation was starting to sound better and better. Maybe somewhere secluded that didn’t have a lot of lovebirds I’d spend the whole time trying to introduce to each other. Sometimes, that could get awkward.
I pulled up a Google search window on my computer and typed inlast-minute secluded vacation. Tons of locations showed up, but as I scanned through the list, a little town in California gave me pause. Pescadero was a coastal town that didn’t have a lot of children. There were only a handful of houses that we delivered to each year because the majority of the residents were either older adults or vacationers.
That sounded perfect.
When I clicked on the link, there were a few hotels with availability, but nothing looked interesting. So I checked out the bed-and-breakfast listings.
Several had weekend availability, but I had an entire week of vacation to fill, so I sent off a few emails to the property managers to ask if there were more days available. Only one responded that yes, in fact, I could rent an oceanfront bungalow for seven days at the rate of $500 a night. It was a bit steep, but the views from the deck were amazing, and I rarely splurged, so it seemed like a worthy investment.
After a few minutes of contemplation, I decided to go for it. No matter where I went, I had a long flight ahead of me. And not the kind where I took to the skies as my reindeer. I would be flying in a plane to save time and energy. So, the sooner I made a decision, the better chance I had of not being crammed into a center seat by the bathroom.
Even though I wasn’t generally extravagant, I did like to splurge on comfort when I had the chance. A first-class ticket was always worth it, no matter how much it cost.
With my arrangements made, I finally left my workshop for the night.
As I was leaving, I saw Jordan leading a tour group across the parking lot. Even though a part of me wanted to pretend I couldn’t see it, there was a clear connection between two of the members of the tour that were obviously not traveling together.Crap.
A woman at the back of the group with a toddler in her arms had a bright pink light surrounding her that went straight to a woman at the front of the group who had her arms crossed over her chest and was staring straight ahead, not appearing to be interested in what Jordan was saying at all.
I glanced at my watch and knew I wasn’t going to be finished with them before Marlie’s closed. Marlie’s was the small café I usually picked up soup and a sandwich at for dinner on my way home every day. She closed right at six, and it was already five forty.
Guess I’d be eating ramen and homemade grilled cheese tonight.
The food itself wasn’t a problem. That was actually one of my favorite meals. The problem was that I had to cook it myself and couldn’t just walk in my front door, park myself on the couch, and dig in.
But duty called, and I couldn’t not respond.
Jordan was leading the group toward the toy shop, so I veered in their direction and caught his attention.
He raised an eyebrow in question, and I just nodded, knowing he’d understand why I was intruding. There was only one reason I’d ever pop into one of his tours, but he didn’t mind that I would be distracting at least a few members of his group.
Not sure the best way to play it, I decided to start with the woman at the front. She seemed less interested in being there, so I began walking at her pace. “Hey there. How’s the tour going so far?”
She startled when she realized I was talking to her and then drew her arms even tighter around her chest. “Fine, thank you. Have we met?”
“No, I’m Arrow. I work here. I just like to check in and make sure all our guests are having a good time.”
She offered a weak smile and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just… Thinking about some other stuff. But it’s been great so far. I’ve wanted to come here since I was a kid.”
